


Seven years later

by TheLateNightStoryTeller



Category: Orphan Black (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 20:18:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11320938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLateNightStoryTeller/pseuds/TheLateNightStoryTeller
Summary: Seven years later Cosima and Delphine are happy. They have adopted Charlotte, and another child named Celia and take them to the beach so that Charlotte can teach Celia how to swim. Celia wants to know what a clone is. Mostly fluff. But a bit of angst.





	Seven years later

“I don’t need sunscreen Maman, I’m going to be in the water,” Celia complained, wrinkling her nose in distaste as her mother smeared the greasy lotion over her cheeks.

They were sitting on a blanket, safe under an umbrella for now, but the sun was beating down heavily on the pale sand and it was already so hot that Delphine was worried their chocolate chip cookies had melted.

“Of course you do,” she told her daughter patiently. She squeezed another glob onto her hand and Celia rubbed at her cheeks. “You can get a burn more easily in the water, because the sun reflects off of it. It’s like a big mirror.”

“I never burn though,” she protested.

“Because you always have sunscreen,” Delphine said. “Turn around, I need to get your back,” she added.

“Can you do mine too, Delphine?” Charlotte asked.

“Right after Celia,” Delphine promised. “Where is Cosima?”

Charlotte shrugged, sitting down beside Celia who was much more cooperative now that her older sister was covering up too. Delphine smiled to herself, half amused half exasperated. She could reason with Celia for twenty minutes and get nowhere but as soon as Charlotte did something she wanted to do it too.

“Mom went to get a life jacket,” Celia told her. “But I don’t need one.”

“I had one the first time auntie Alison taught me to swim,” Charlotte said. “And it was in a pool, the ocean is a lot harder because of the waves.”

“Maybe we should have started in a pool,” Delphine worried under her breath.

“Cosima says the water hurt her eyes when she was a kid,” Charlotte said. “It’s strange though, it never hurt me.”

Delphine had finished with Celia and was pouring out some more sunscreen for Charlotte. Celia wiggled away to begin making a small mound out of the sand, but at that she looked up.

“It’s strange because you’re clones?” she asked.

Both Delphine and Charlotte blinked at her. She knew a little bit about why she had so many aunties that looked alike, why Charlotte, at fifteen, looked more like them every day, but the three of them hadn’t really discussed with her all that that word meant. She wasn’t even certain any of them had ever used the word clone.

“Sisters,” Charlotte corrected.

“Isn’t that the same thing?” Celia wondered. She looked between Delphine and Charlotte, sensing the tension between them.

The two of them exchanged a look. Delphine really would rather Cosima be here for this conversation, but she was willing to let Charlotte take the lead. It was her body, her sisters that they were talking about. It should be her explaining it. She wanted to protect Celia from the worst of what it meant, at least until she was old enough to understand, but she knew Charlotte was almost as protective of the little girl as she was so she gave her a small nod.

“It’s OK,” she said softly. “She should know.”

They’d had Celia for four years now. She’d come to them through Siobhan of all people, a three year old girl with no papers and a history that had been purposefully left blank. They called her an orphan from the black. Delphine still wasn’t sure what she’d do when Celia started asking questions. Secrets sometimes were the best safety net.

She did know that wherever Celia came from she belonged with them. This tiny person was her daughter as surely as the waves ran up the shoreline and, whatever her secrets were, she would keep her safe.

Some things though, she’d learned, you couldn’t protect people from. You could only prepare them for them. The truth about Celia’s other mother and her big sister was one of those.

They left the sunscreen for the moment and Celia crawled onto Delphine’s lap, looking at Charlotte with wide eyes like she’d just gotten herself into trouble.

“It’s OK to be curious ma chérie,” she said, giving her head a quick kiss.

“I was curious too at your age,” Charlotte assured her. “About rocks and birds and volcanoes. About where I came from.”

“You came from inside your birth mom,” Celia said matter-of-factly. “Just like me. But we don’t know what her name is.”

“Yes but how I got in there isn’t the same way you did,” Charlotte told her.

“How did I get in there?” she asked.

Charlotte looked to Delphine, wide eyed. “Uh….”

Delphine gave her head a little shake. ‘Not now,’ she mouthed.

“Well… anyway… that’s not important…” Charlotte paused, thinking for a minute. “Most people are made of two parts,” she said at last, holding up one hand and then the other. “One from their dad, and one from their mom.”

Explaining it the way she was, Charlotte looked so much like Cosima that Delphine had to smile. She was growing up to be her own woman, for sure, but she saw pieces of her sisters in her all the time. It was beautiful, the things that connect them, that made them different. She hoped Celia would see that too some day.

“But me and Cosima and Auntie Alison, and Auntie Sarah, and Auntie Helena and Uncle Tony, and… well all of us…We came from one person.” Charlotte held up her index finger as she spoke.

“Was there anything left of them?” Celia asked quietly, awed. They laughed at her and she crossed her arms. “What?”

“They only needed one cell for each of us,” Charlotte explained, chuckling. “That’s a tiny piece of us, so small you can’t even see it.”

“Well I didn’t know that,” Celia huffed and Delphine laughed again, patting her hair.

“Of course not,” she said.

“And that’s what a clone is?” Celia asked. “Is anyone else a clone?” She looked up at Delphine who shook her head.

“No,” she said, debating how far to take this conversation. “It isn’t allowed.”

She frowned. “But that’s where Mom and Charlotte came from. It _should_ be allowed.”

“It isn’t a good way to be born,” Charlotte said, she rubbed her leg as she spoke, tracing along the brace she had to remove before she went into the water. “But it doesn’t mean that our lives aren’t good lives to live.”

“Oh, like me,” Celia told her. Charlotte and Delphine exchanged a look.

“You aren’t a clone ma chérie',” Delphine said gently. _Probably._

“But it’s the same as how it’s bad that my mom and dad are gone,” the little girl explained, grasping for a moment at a concept far beyond her years. “But it’s good that I’m part of our family. That’s what Mom says.”

Delphine felt a rush of pride for her daughter. “Yes, exactly like that,” she agreed, moving her hair out of her face. “But this is different in one way.” Celia looked up at her again and she made her expression as sober as possible. “You must not tell anyone about Mom and Charlotte and their sisters.”

She watched Celia take in this information, her little face squishing as she tried to process it. Was it fair to ask something so big of her? Was it possible? She wasn’t like Kira, she trusted too easily. She waved at strangers and let other children lead her into trouble. Dark corners were to be explored, new people were friends waiting to happen. She barely knew what a secret was.

They had few enemies now, and in all likelihood people would just attribute any slip up to her active imagination. Hopefully that would be enough, hopefully. What choice did they have but to tell her? Cosima would never have hidden her family from her and her family defied any other explanation.

“OK,” she said at last. “Are we still learning how to swim today?”

Charlotte grinned at her. “Yes.”

Celia scrambled out of Delphine’s arms. “OK, I’m ready now.”

“Uh, not without a life jacket.” Cosima appeared, holding up a life jacket that was blue with bright green sharks on it. “Look I got you a cool one.” She tapped one of the sharks. “It has a hammerhead.”

She smiled at Delphine, clearly pleased with herself, before helping Celia into it. Delphine watched them fondly, smiling as Cosima explained each shark to their daughter, before Charlotte asked her to finish her back.

Delphine caught Charlotte eyeing the lifeguard chair and smiled at her.

“You know, you could apply now that your birthday has passed. If you wanted to,” she told her. “It would be good for the summer.”

“Maybe… maybe I could apply to a pool first,” she answered uncertainly.

She wanted it, Delphine knew she did, but she’d never had a job before except babysitting her sister. A pool would be inside, the air thick with chlorine and Charlotte had been hidden away too long to pass up the sun for that.

“I’ll help you make a resume,” she offered. Charlotte turned to her, still uncertain, but she gave her a knowing smile. “You just have to know what they want to see,” she told her. “You’re qualified for it, if that’s what you want. I think you have a good chance.”

Slowly, Charlotte smiled back at her. “OK.”

Cosima was still adjusting Celia’s life jacket. Delphine suspected they’d both been distracted by some story about sharks or the tides or whatever had taken their interest at the moment. Sometimes the two of them lived in their own world that didn’t care about the time passing in this one. Maybe that was why they also shared a habit of being late for things.

Delphine and Charlotte didn’t mind. They shared a bottle of water and planned out Charlotte’s resume as they waited. At the beach, there was no rush.

When everyone was ready, Charlotte took off her brace and took Celia’s hand.

 Delphine resisted the urge to get up and follow them. Celia wanted to learn with just Charlotte there and Charlotte was old enough to look after her. It was just that the ocean was so big and the waves were so strong and Celia was so tiny.

“You know, you can relax,” Cosima told her, sitting down beside her. “Charlotte can swim better than both of us.”

“Is that why you can’t take your eyes off them?” Delphine teased.

“They’re just so cute,” she defended, watching as Celia and Charlotte moved away from a wave. Even from here they could hear them laughing. “Do you think she’ll like the ocean?”

Already they were a few feet out. Celia was floating on her back, Charlotte was pulling her along while she kicked her feet. The pair of them shrieked in delight when they got swept up by a wave.

“I do,” Delphine mused.

Cosima chuckled at them before leaning her head on Delphine’s shoulder, sighing in contentment. “How long do you think we have to wait before we go in with them?”

“Give them ten minutes,” Delphine told her.

Cosima shuffled her feet in the sand. “Mmm. OK.” She kissed Delphine’s arm before lifting her head away. “I love you, but it’s really hot.”

Delphine laughed at her. “You’ll have to make it up to me later.”

“If we ever get a moment alone,” she muttered playfully. “Remember that trip we took after I graduated?”

Delphine leaned over, kissing her ear, pleased that that made Cosima’s toes wiggle in the sand. “We went to Europe and we barely got any sleep,” she mused softly.

“I think if we went now I’d just stay in our room,” Cosima told her, grinning. “Skip the tours just sleep and…” she trailed a lazy finger down Delphine’s arm, lifting her eyebrows. “Well, whatever we wanted,” she finished mischievously. “I think you owe me too by now.”

“Someday,” Delphine agreed. She was pretty happy right where she was, but it would nice to have some time alone again. Maybe for their anniversary.

Cosima slid onto her stomach so she could keep her eyes on the water, Delphine suspected she was a little more nervous about this first solo trip into the ocean than she was letting on. She, tried to heed her advice anyway, playing with Cosima’s hair as they watched the kids. They looked so happy and the sand felt good on her feet, the smell of the ocean hung around them and Cosima was warm under her hand. The day was peaceful, not worrying.

“This is good too though,” Cosima said after a minute. She reached up to take Delphine’s hand, kissing the tips of her fingers before turning to look up at her over her shoulder. “I love you.” There was more weight to the words this time. It was contentment, devotion, gratitude for what they had. It was both a thank you and a promise.

“I love you too,” she answered, just as solemnly.

The moment was like sunlight shining through a cloud, a tiny streak of golden perfect and Delphine let it linger as long as she could before speaking again.

“We told Celia about clones.”

In her surprise, Cosima rolled onto her back, looking up at Delphine. “Really?”

“She was asking,” Delphine explained.

“How does she even know that word?” Cosima asked.

Delphine shrugged. “One of your sisters?”

Cosima shrugged too, leaving it a mystery. “What did you tell her?”

“Just where you came from,” Delphine answered. “And it was Charlotte who explained it to her.”

“How’d she take it?” Cosima asked uncertainly.

“Well,” Delphine assured her. She smiled at her encouragingly, taking her hand between both of hers. “I’m not sure how much she understands, but she knows you and Charlotte enough to understand it isn’t anything bad.”

“So she knows where we come from, but we have no idea where she does,” Cosima muttered. Her mouth set into a frown and Delphine sighed, knowing that look.

“Cosima…” she warned.

“She’s our baby,” Cosima objected stubbornly. She twisted her head to look back at the water, smiling when she caught sight of Celia and Charlotte still playing but her eyes were sad. “I don’t want her to end up like me,” she said quietly, watching their daughter.

Delphine stroked her cheek. “I would never let anything happen to any of you,” she swore.

Cosima covered her hand with her own. She lay her head back down on the sand, eyes closing for a moment. “Yeah, I know that,” she said quietly. Those words too had weight. It was complete faith and trust Delphine wouldn’t have ever imagined she’d hear from her seven years ago. Now that trust came from her wife as naturally as each breath. “But… I don’t want her to have questions she can’t answer.”

It was a topic they kept coming back to. More a conversation than an argument since what either of them thought about the topic was irrelevant if Siobhan wouldn’t tell them anything. Someday though, Celia was going to have questions. And someday her secrets might get her in over her head.

“All we can do is our best,” Delphine told her soothingly. “Keep her safe, keep her happy. Keep her from feeling that she isn’t in control of her own life… It’s a balancing act and sometimes we can’t do all of it.”

 _Someday she may resent us for what we can’t do._ She didn’t need to say that part out loud, they both knew.

“You know, this side of things sucks,” Cosima complained.

Delphine took her hand, rubbing it back and forth between her palms before gripping onto it. “Yes, but we have her, ma chérie,” she reminded her. “She’s here and she’s happy and so are we. Everything else is worth it.”

Cosima sighed, tilting her head to look behind her when another delighted shriek reached them from the water. They’d taken a break from the lessons and now Charlotte was showing Celia how to jump into a wave.

“Yeah,” she agreed, a small smile making its way onto her face. “It really is.” Then her face fell. “What if I’m not strong enough?” she whispered. Her lip trembled and Delphine wished she hadn’t ruined a perfect day by starting this conversation. “What if I’m not like you?”

Delphine shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

Cosima narrowed her eyes stubbornly. “I won’t make you do this alone,” she objected.

“That isn’t what I meant,” Delphine told her. “It doesn’t matter if you’re like me.” Cosima stared up at her, lost, and she smiled down on her reassuringly. “Close your eyes.”

Cosima did as she’d asked, and Delphine gently stroked the side of her face.

“Do you remember how it felt a minute ago?” she said softly.

A small nod.

“It’s always there, even when she’s driving you crazy.” She paused, feeling like she was telling two stories at once. “You always love her.”

“That’s why I’m scared,” Cosima admitted quietly.

“That’s why you’re strong enough,” Delphine told her. “If you can remember what this feels like and you can love her no matter how scared you are, you’re strong enough to do whatever you need to do.”

Cosima’s eyes opened and she stared back up at her, trusting her. She brought up her hand to cup Delphine’s cheek. Her eyes shone with adoration and her mouth twitched up in a smile when Delphine smiled at her.

“OK,” she agreed. She took a breath. “I promise to protect her.” Her eyes traced over Delphine’s face, fingers moving over her ear and into her hair. “And to protect you and Charlotte,” she vowed.

Delphine rubbed her thumb along Cosima’s cheekbone. “So do I.”

Cosima smiled softly, closing her eyes. They stayed like that for a minute, letting the promise settle over them.

 When Cosima’s eyes opened again, they were light with mischief. “Can we go into the water now?” she asked playfully. “It’s really hot outside. And I want to play with our kids.” She was scrambling to her feet before Delphine could nod her agreement, pulling her up with her. “C’mon before it rains or something.”

There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

Laughing, Delphine let her pull her out of the shade of their umbrella, dancing a little with her on the sand when it was too hot for their bare feet. The kids waved when they reached the water, laughing when Cosima charged in and splashed them. Delphine waded more slowly behind her, letting herself get used to the water slowly until Cosima and Celia started splashing water at her and she dove in after them. Charlotte floated on her back, watching them like an otter.

 In that moment, she remade the same promise she’d been making for over seven years now. She promised to love Cosima as long as she lived and she promised the newer promises again too. She promised to love Charlotte as long as she lived, and to love Celia as long as she lived.

This was her family, them and their extended relatives, and she promised herself every day that she’d love them all her life.

**Author's Note:**

> A gift for Annie1293 ;) 
> 
> I sort of based the relationship between Charlotte and Delphine (and Celia) on mine with my stepmom and brother. She calls her Delphine, not mom, but Delphine (and Cosima) is still basically her mom. 
> 
> I always had a headcannon that Alison would teach Charlotte how to swim and she'd be really good at it. 
> 
> Siobhan will always be Siobhan protecting the sketchy children.


End file.
